Illusion apparatus for theatrical and amusement purposes.



-T. R, BARRETT. ILLUSION APPARATUS. FOB. THEATRIGAL AND AMUSEMENT PURPOSES. urmouxox FILED MAR 30, 19.11.

. 1 1 1 0,665, I Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

4 T. R BARRETT.

ILLUSION APPARATUS FOR THEATRIGAL AND AMUSEMENT PURPOSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30, 1911. 1, 1 1 0,6659 Patented Sept. 15, 1914.1.

WITNESSES screen can be seen from the op More specifically st 'ing pictures involving rnaorrnv BARRETT, or nonnnnrrown, new messy.

ILLUSION APPARATUS FOR THEATRICAL AND AMUSEMENT PURPOSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 30, 1911. Serial N 0. $17,978.

Patented Sept. 15, ism.

To ail wiiomit may concern: r

Be it known that I, TIMOTHY R. BARRET a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Bordentown, county of Hurling ton, and State of-New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Illusion Apparatus for Theatrical and Amusement Purposes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an illusion apparatus for theatiicaland amusement purposes, the object in view being to convey the impres sion to an audience that a person apparently in pursuit of a vehicle will fail in an effort to overhaul or catch up with said vehicle.

The invention embodies a representation. of a suitable vehicle, such pliance whereon a. performer, such as a person, may run, said appliance being herein after referred to as a treadmill, means whereby a relative movement between the vehicle and the treadmill may be secured at will, a background for the setting constituted by the vehicle and the treadmill, and a foreground for the setting, said background and the foreground being associated with means for securing novcl scenic effects. ated, the invention is embodied in a treadmill adapted to be moved toward the vehicle, or away from the vehicle, according as it may be desired to give the impression that the performer is gaining upon thevehicle or losing ground in his effort to catch up with the vehicle. Furthermore, the vehicle is mounted so that it is capable of movement relative to the treadmill, and, also, to enable said vehicle to be run 0d a stage.

The background is embodied in the form of a drop screen composed of a material which is rendered so translucent under the rays of light from a picture projecting apparatus that the image projected in said posite side. Said apparatus is hf the kind employing a lens, asource of light, and a rotary slide carrier provided with a series of views exposed in rapid succession so as to give movpersistence of vision, whereby there is secured the optical effect of a relative. movement between the background and the stage setting, the latter being-comprised by the vehicle, the treadmill, and the performer or performers,

The foreground obtains novel scenic effec'ts of rain, snow, etc, by the employment of a substantiallyinvisible drop screen comployed in conj 21S 21 CHI", an 31 I I 1 I f l posed of a wide or open mesh fabric against I which pictures, representative of rain or snow, are PI'OJBClJGCl by a picture projecting machine, embodying a rotary slide carrier provided with a series of like views exposed in rapid succession so as to give moving pictures involving persistence of vision, said picture projecting machine being independent of the picture projecting machine emunction with the background screen. I I

Other features of the invention, and the advantages thereof, will appear in the course of the annexed detailed description.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated one practical embodiment of the invention, but the in is to be undcrstorul as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention, except as defined by the annexed claims.

Figure .l is a view in front elevation of a stage .whereon a theatrical performance is to be carried on by the aid of the appliances of this invcntirm. Fig. 2 is a view at right angles to Fig. 1 illustrating the appliances of this invention in operative position ,upon a sta e.

A designates the floor line of the stage, platform, or other structure, upon which the apparatus of this invention is intended to be installed, for the purpose of giving atheatrical or entertaining performance.

B designates a portion of a vehicle, or simulated vehicle, the same being provided with wheels Z), whereby the apparatus is rendered movable and portable upon the stage. As shown, the vehicle represents the end portion of a railway car having a. platform I) and steps Z1 but the particular form of the vehicle may be modified and changed according to the theatrical act which is to be given. In some instances, I may employ an automobile as the vehicle, at as there are a large variety of automobiles, and as other forms of vehicles may be substituted, I have not considered it necessary or expedient to illustrate the forms of vehicles which maybe used in the performance. The vehicle is intended to occupy, or be positioned at, the end portion of the stage, and said-vehicle is intended to be moved onto and off thestage, and .dur- .ing the performance of the act the vehicle may or may not be moved with respect to the treadmill presently described, such construction shown therer cation filed by me on February twentyeighth, one thousand nine hundred and eleven, SerialNo. 611,495. Said treadmill embodies a frame and an endless path 0', the latter being supported by suitable means ;within frame 0 so as to run easilytherein (when a performer is engaged in giving the 1'' act.

As shown in Fig. 1, the treadmill is provided, also, with suitable carrying wheels 0!, adapted to rest upon the'fioor of the stage y the treadmill may be or platform, where easily transported to and from .the stage, and it is rendered capable of moving u on the stage with relation to the vehicle. Bne

embodiment of means for operating the treadmill at will, consists of a cable E, such as the endless cable shown in Fig. 1. The

.cable is shown as being attached at its respective ends to the ends of the treadmill frame a. The cable extends around the pulleys are positioned at the respective sides to and around another pulley e and thence attached to the treadmill frame. The pulleys are positioned at the respective sides of. the stage, and the operating cable is practically concealed from the view of the audience. One of the pulleys, as 2, may be ower operated. The cable, or equivalent evice, provides means for imparting movement at will. to the treadmill, whereby said treadmill may be-caused to approach closer to the car or'vehicle, or it may be made to recede therefrom;

A background screen F is positioned at the rear of the stage setting, said background screen being in the form of a drop curtain, composed of a material which will be rendered so translucent by the rays of.

light from a picture projecting apparatus G that the image projected thereon can be seen from the opposite side of the screen. The screen may be composed of a fabric of any desired color, preferably white, and this fabric is not painted or decorated like ordinary background curtains employed as theatrical scenery. The picture projecting apparatus G is positioned in the rear of the screen so as to be concealed from the view of the audience, and during the performance said apparatus G is operated to throw against the screen a continuous view which ives a continuously moving scene. .orm of projecting apparatus which I prefer to employ consists, generally, of a lighttight casing 9 adapted to inclose a source of light, such as an electric arc'light, a lens tube g, anda .rotar'yi slide carrier adapted The to be operated by clock work, or other form ground curtain. 'The foreground curtain is,

composed of a wide or open mesh fabric, so

as to be substantially invisible to the eye of a person in the audience, but the fabric of this foreground curtain is of such a nature that the pictures projected from apparatus I will be depicted upon the curtain, so as to give the efl'ect to the audience of rain, snow or other scenic efi'ects. The foreground curtain is suspended or supported between the audience and the stage-setting, as shown in Fig. 2. The apparatus I is similar in construction to the apparatus G heretofore described, and'it is operated in a similar way to throw against screen H a series of like views exposed in rapid succession so asto give moving pictures involving a persistence of vision. Said-apparatus I may be located at any suitable place in front of the stage, usually in a balcony of the theater in which the performance is given.

Prior to giving the performance the vehicle and the treadmill are positioned at one end portion and in the central portion, re-

spectively, of the stage, the background screen F is placed in position at the rear of the stagesctting, and the foreground sc'reenI-I is positioned in front of the stage setting, screen H being between the audience and the stage setting. The projecting apparatus G. is at the rear of the stage, whereas apparatus I is preferably at an elevated point in the body of the theater. When the stage curtain is raised, the apparatus G is operated to 11() except when said vehicle is moved with relation to the treadmill. The central theme of t to left, in order to secure the de-v the performance is the actor running upon a the treadmill in pursuit of the vehicle, and

the illusion is increased by moving the treadmill bodily with relation to the vehicle.

The treadmill, while the'actor isiperforming thereon, may be. drawn at will toward the vehicle so as to-give the effect thatthe ursucr is gaining upon the vehicle, .an at wi est the vehicle. The dramatic effect may be still v further. increased by an actress at the rear platform of the car or vehicle, all as shown in Fig. 1. To further enhance the theatrical.

effect, the apparatus I is operated to throw in rapid succession a series of picturesagainst the substantially invisible foreground curtain, said pictures giving snow or other effect. The tread-mil substantially concealed from view by suitably painting the lower part of curtain H, or other foregrounds may be employed to. conceal the treadmill.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire'to se-' cure by Letters Patent is 1. In an illusion apparatus, the combination with a foreground and a background, of a treadmill positioned intermediate said foreground and background, and a movable simulated vehicle or car provided with means for the accommodation of a performer, said simulated vehicle or car being provided with carrying wheels adapted to run upon the stage and saidcar or vehicle 0 being movable at will toward and from the treadmill.

2. In an illusion apparatus, the combination with a foregroundvand a background, of a Wheeled vehicle or car provided with means for the accommodation of a per former, said vehicle or car being positioned intermediate the foreground and the background and being movable at will across the stage, a wheeled treadmill adjacent to said car or vehicle, and means operatively connected with said treadmill and operable at will for moving said treadmill toward and from the car or vehicle.

3. In an illusion apparatus, a background, a foreground, a wheeled vehicle positioned intermediate the background and the foreground, atreadmill adjacent to the Wheeled vehicle, and means for bodily moving said treadmill relative to the wheeled vehicle, said wheeled vehicle being movable at will relative to. the treadmill. j

4. In an illusion apparatus, a stage setting embodying a simulated vehicle and a treadmill movable relative to each other, a background screen at the rear of the stage setting, means for projecting a series of pictures in rapid succession against said background screen, a substantially invisible screen positioned in front of the stage setting, through which screen the stage setting is visible to the audience, and separate means for projecting a. series of pictures in rapid succession against the substantially invisible screen.

5. In an illusion apparatus, a translucent a rain, may be:

ing.

background screcn'and means for projecting p1ctures in rapid succession against it, a substantially invisible foneground 'screen composed of open mesh fabric, means for projecting a series of like views in rapid succession against the for ground screen, and a stage setting positioned intermediate the background screen and the foreground screen, said stage setting being exposed.- to the view of an. audience through the -forea ground screen.

6. In an illusion apparatus, a stage setting including a vehicle and a treadmill adapted to be moved relatively one to the other, a baclsgmund scream-and picture projecting mechanism adapted to throw against the screen a series of pictures depicting scenes moving in an opposite direction to that in which the vehicle is apparently mov- I -7. In an illusion apparatus, the combination of abackground screen composed of a. substantially translucent material, means for projecting a succession of pictures against it, a substantially invisible foreground screen composed of an open mesh fabric, means for projecting against the foreground screen a succession of pictures, and a stage setting positioned "intermediate the fore: ground screen and the background screen, said stage setting embodying means Whereby a theatrical performance may be conducted intermediate the aforesaid screens. 8. In an illusion apparatus, a'stage setting, embodying a treadmill and a simulated vehicle, a substantially invisible foreground screen positioned in front of the stage setting, and means for projecting a succession of pictures against said screen. i 9. In an illusion apparatus, a stage setting, a substantially invisible foreground screen positioned in front ofthe stage setting,' and a picture projecting apparatus positioned in front of the screen and operating to project a succession of pictures against the same, said stage setting bein exposed to the view of an audience throng said foreground screen. 10. In an illusion apparatus, the combination of a background screen composed of a substantially translucent material, means for projecting a succession of pictures: against it, a substantially invisible foreground screen composed of an open mesh fabric, means for projecting against the foreground screen a succession of pictures, and a simulated vehicle and a treadmill both positioned intermediate the foreground screen and the background screen for the purpose of enabling a theatrical production to be performed intermediate said screens.

11. In an illusion apparatus, astage setting embodying a simulated vehicle and a treadmill, means for securing at will a relative movement between the vehicle and the 130 f at treadmill, a background screen, means for 1'0 mill, a background screen, a picture projecting apparatus at the rear of the background screen for throwing a succession of pictures against it, a substantially invisible ,7

foreground screen in-front of the stage set ting, and a picture projecting apparatus 15 positioned in front of the foreground screen and adapted to'throw a succession of pictures against it.

In testimony whereof I-have signed my name to this specification in the presence of 20 two subscribing witnesses.

' TIMOTHY R. BARRETT.

Witnesses:

H. I. BERNHARD, J. F. MOTHERSHEAD. 

